The Chinese Super League is in full swing, and in the 28th round, Zhejiang, the leading team, challenged the resilient Meizhou Hakka on the road, making it the first match of the round. Although Meizhou Hakka is a county-level team, it has shown a tenacious fighting spirit, and its recent home performance has been especially good. Even though it was relegated early, the team still went all out to grab points. Zhejiang, on the other hand, is unbeatable in the second half of the Chinese Super League, undefeated, but has suffered two consecutive defeats in the AFC Champions League.
The two teams have been in hot form recently, and the battle is bound to be a close one. Zhejiang coach Jordy has come up with a classic 4231 formation, with Mu Xiekui as the striker, Evra, Frank and Cheng Jin as the three defenders, Qian Jie and Li Tixiang at the back, Yue Xin, Lucas Porcinolo, Sun Zheng Ao and Dong Yu in a four-guard defense, and Zhao Bo as the goalkeeper. Meizhou Hakka coach Milan Ristic also uses a 4231 formation, which will be led by Cheng Yuelei, Dujalić, Kosovic, Rodrigo Enrique, Conrad and Ye Chugui.
At the beginning of the game, Zhejiang quickly controlled the rhythm, but Meizhou Hakka defense was solid, and goalkeeper Cheng Yuelei performed bravely. In the 8th minute, Mu Xiekui's shot was parried out by Cheng Yuelei; in the 39th minute, Mu Xiekui shot again, and was again deflected by Cheng Yuelei. Zhejiang team missed a good opportunity, the 45th +2 minutes, Meizhou Hakka seized the opportunity to counterattack, Konrad high-speed advance, one-handed the ball into the far corner, Zhejiang 0-1 Meizhou Hakka.
In the second half, Zhejiang's offensive momentum is not reduced, Mu Xiekui led the attack group still can not grasp the opportunity. Until the end of the game, Mu Xiekui in the 90 +8 minutes to complete the equalizer, Evra in a small angle shot hit the back post, Mu Xiekui followed up to score, Zhejiang 1-1 Meizhou Hakka.
In the whole match, Zhejiang team had 68% ball control, 20-14 shots, 9-6 shots, and finally drew 1-1. Meizhou Hakka goalkeeper Cheng Yuelei was honored with the highest score of the game with many wonderful saves, scoring 8.5 points, while Zhejiang Li Tixiang also performed well, scoring 8.1 points.
Despite the draw, Zhejiang still overtook Shanghai Shenhua by one point to make a strong return to the top three in the Chinese Super League standings. Zhejiang ranked third with 49 minutes, Shandong Taishan ranked second with 51 points and Shanghai Shenhua ranked fourth with 48 points. According to statistics, Zhejiang recorded a 13-game unbeaten streak in the second half of the Super League, with nine wins and four draws from the 16th to 28th rounds, soaring to the top three. Meizhou Hakka also performed well, going undefeated at home for six consecutive matches, with four wins and two draws, to move up to tenth in the table.
